CFI Los Angeles

Secular Organizations for Sobriety (SOS) Books

Escape from Nicotine Country: How to Stop Smoking Painlessly

“Christopher is fun to read because he takes disease seriously, but not himself.”—Professional Counselor

“Christopher is refreshing because he gets his message across without sounding shrill or sour.”—Substance Abuse Report

“The prospect of stopping smoking is scary as hell. I know-I’ve been there.” So opens Escape from Nicotine Country, James Christopher’s unique and
uplifting guide to quitting smoking without pain or weight gain. A thirty-year smoker, Christopher gave up cigarettes in 1993, after a gradual period of
individual withdrawal, exercise, and proper diet. Now he offers his remarkable and simple self-help program to all those who want to kick the habit.

While not weighed down with “just say no” rhetoric, overused shock statistics, or religious undertones, Escape from Nicotine Country goes against
the grain of stop-smoking polemics by empowering the individual through motivational chapters. Christopher tells his own story of addiction and success in
quitting. At the same time he promotes understanding of nicotine addiction and offers a simple solution to breaking the habit through reduction.

Christopher’s program addresses many different types of nicotine addiction, the hunger that haunts those trying to quit, and the need for a healthy routine
of exercise. The latter half of the book is an encouraging diary, which allows the reader to record the progress that will lead to a healthier, smoke-free
life.

James Christopher
(Los Angeles, CA) is the visionary founder of the 100,000-member Save Our Selves (SOS), the well-established and popular nonreligious alternative to
Alcoholics Anonymous, and the author of How to Stay Sober, Unhooked, and SOS Sobriety.

How to Stay Sober: Recovery Without Religion

$20

James Christopher

Until now, virtually all therapy for alcoholics and other chemical-dependent individuals has been religious in nature. Traditional support groups imply
that recovery is simply not possible without reliance on a supernatural “Higher Power.” The need for a secular alternative to recovery from alcoholism or
drug addiction is answered in How To Stay Sober. This book can help non-religious alcoholics maintain philosophical integrity while achieving the goal of
lifelong sobriety. James Christopher, a longtime sober alcoholic, offers new insights and suggestions for developing coping skills and regaining
self-esteem through self-reliance. He notes that current research indicates that there is no such thing as an “alcoholic personality” - that addiction is
the result of physiology, not psychology. It is only by making sobriety the number one priority in life, Christopher states, that an alcoholic or addict
can achieve recovery. Christopher has spearheaded a large grassroots secular sobriety movement across the United States, and this book offers concrete
guidelines for forming these groups in any community. The book also provides an important weekly diary for the recovering alcoholic to use in the crucial
first year of sobriety. Sobriety must be prioritized daily - no matter what - to remain under personal control. It is only through this conscious choice,
Christopher states, that an alcoholic can get back on track and begin anew the creative, fulfilling learning process of life. Recommending self-reliance
and self-respect without substituting dependence on religious dogma or a “higher power” for countering an addiction to alcohol or drugs, Christopher
focuses on the practical aspects of his triumph and includes guidelines for forming a secular support group. “Recommended reading.” Substance Abuse Report

SOS Sobriety: The Proven Alternative to 12-Step Programs

Sure to be controversial, S.O.S. Sobriety lays bare the limitations of Alcoholics Anonymous while describing the proven methods of alcohol and drug
abstention advocated by James Christopher, founder of Secular Organizations for Sobriety (or “Save Our Selves”), the world’s largest non-12-step addiction
recovery program.

After answering basic questions about the nature and purpose of S.O.S., the success of the “sobriety priority” approach is documented through two
scientific studies. Included are moving, in-depth individual recovery stories, interviews with addiction experts and legal professionals, as well as a
critique of “controlled drinking” programs and the insistence by AA and the liquor industry that alcoholism is a problem of behavior rather than one rooted
in physiology and genetics.

“His is a provocative and thoughtful humanist account; another peg in the coffin of the controlled drinking aficionados.” Kenneth Blum, Ph.D., author of
Alcohol and the Addictive Brain.